Our View: It's up to the adults in a child's life, teachers and parents included, to teach appropriate fashion

Leggings hang on a rack at JCPenney at Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw Township. Frankenmuth High School reminded students that leggings are not pants and can be worn with shirts that reach fingertip length.Yfat Yossifor | MLive.com

The following is the view of the Saginaw News and Bay City Times editorial boards following news of Frankenmuth High School officials reminding students of the dress code because of an increase in leggings.

Clark was referring to the most recent trend of leggings, a tight spandex material, being worn as pants, violating the school’s dress code. Call them leggings, jeggings, yoga pants or Spandex, tight-fitting athletic wear is perfectly appropriate for exercise. When a student is exercising her mind in academia, however, there are more respectful and less distracting clothing choices that will serve just fine.

School’s have been battling fashion for as long as most people can remember, from miniskirts in the 1970s to Daisy Duke short shorts in the 1980s, to mini dresses in the 1990s.

The question, however, remains: Whose responsibility is it to make sure teens are dressed appropriately? Schools have largely taken on the burden, with dress codes and sending special messages to students and parents on what is and isn’t school appropriate.

We believe these lessons need to start at home. Parents should be closely monitoring how their children dress, and teaching them what is appropriate. School dress codes should be required reading at home.

With that being said, we know that not every child has a stable home environment — and some of the parents may need lessons of their own on how to dress — so the school’s play an important role in teaching these lessons.

As Principal Clark said: “The world is tough enough for young women without making it harder on ourselves. … Really think about what message your clothes are sending.”

And she’s right. When these students graduate and move onto the real world, leggings, sweatpants and ripped jeans aren’t going to cut it in a job interview. They need to be taught that now.

We're all for freedom of expression and youths who explore different sides of their selves through fashion. But sometimes, it's up to the adults in teens' lives to save them from their crimes of fashion.